Filling two key positions in the United States of America (USA) and choosing a new foreign secretary will be among the priorities in the realm of foreign policy for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government set to take office over the weekend.
Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra, who was given a six-month extension is widely expected to become the next Ambassador to the US within the next two months, people familiar with the matter said on the condition of anonymity. The key slot in Washington has been vacant since the last ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu retired in January 2024.
The Deputy National Security Advisor, Vikram Misri, an Indian Foreign Service officer (IFS) from the 1989 batch who has the rare distinction of serving as private secretary to the three prime ministers is tipped to take over as foreign secretary when Kwatra moves to the US, the people said.
Misri, one of the leading China hands in the External Affairs Ministry whose last ambassador posting was in Beijing, was appointed to his position in the National Security Council Secretariat in January 2022. The People said he would be a natural fit as foreign secretary in view of his expertise on China, which remains one of the most formidable foreign policy challenges to India.
India’s Ambassador to France Jawed Ashraf, who served as the joint secretary in the PMO (Prime Ministers Office) under both Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi and was granted a yearlong extension in service that it set to end in September this year is widely tipped to replace Misri in the National Council Secretariat, the people said.
The Incoming government will also have to fill the posts of the Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations (UN) in New York as it became vacant with the retirement of Ruchira Kamboj, the first woman to hold the position at the beginning of this month.
The two frontrunners for this post are P Harish, an officer of the 1990 batch of the IFS and the current Ambassador to Germany and BN Reddy from the 1993 batch of the IFS and the current High Commissioner to Malaysia, the people said. Other names doing rounds for this position are Vikram Doraiswamy, a 1992 IFS batch officer who is the current High Commissioner to the UK, and Naveen Srivastava from the 1993 batch of the IFS and current ambassador to Nepal.
Sanjeev Singla, who has been the Ambassador to Israel since July 2019 is widely tipped as the next ambassador to France, the people said. Singla, who comes from the 1997 batch of the IFS also served as the Private Secretary to the Prime Minister during 2014-19.
The government also has to choose some new ministers for the state for External Affairs, since two out of the three ministers, Meenakshi Lekhi and Rajkumar Ranjan Singh weren’t given tickets by the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) to contest the Lok Sabha Election, while the third former Rajya Sabha member, V Murleedharan lost in the polls in the Attingal constituency in Kerala.
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